University of Mount Olive sent two teams to the "final four" of the men's tennis Main Draw as the Trojans competed in the Methodist University Invitational at Fayetteville, N.C., over the weekend. Ogulcan Deniz and Martin Moser advanced to the semifinals in the top half of the bracket, while Jose Luis Cortijos and Martim Sousa reached the semifinal round in the bottom half of the bracket.
Trojan freshman Yannic Stark won the Group B Flight teaming with fellow freshman Matt Reesor of Barton College. The format for both the Main Draw and the Group B Flight was comparable to Davis Cup competition. For each round, teams competed in a pair of singles matches and in a doubles match. The team winning at least a combined two of the three matches advanced to the next round.
Stark and Reesor went through four straight rounds without dropping a set. In the championship round, Stark posted his fourth consecutive straight-set singles win, while Reesor rallied from a first-set loss to win in three sets. The duo won its doubles match 8-4.
Deniz and Moser posted second and third-round wins over teams from Conference Carolinas rivals Pfeiffer and Barton. Corjitos and Sousa defeated a team from Pfeiffer in the second round. Both Trojan tandems fell in the semifinals to teams from Pfeiffer.
Mount Olive returns to action next weekend as the Trojans travel to Wingate, N.C., to compete in the Wingate University Invitational. The tournament begins Saturday and concludes Sunday.